Crowd Source - How to Engaged Kids who are getting Ds and Fs now

  Addressing D and F.

Teachers feel like the problem isn’t that kids don’t show up… it’s executive functioning and proximity.  Kids are just not finishing and submitting often.  

Teachers are feeling like they need PERMISSION to take class time to check in with students.  It’s very hard to get the struggling students to reach out during office hours.  And talking to kids who are “in front of you” in class is really hard b/c teachers are doing so much tech juggling and teaching.  

So, a couple ideas:

1. Make time EACH CLASS PERIOD to touch base with kids on D/F list.  You can do this either by having daily reading time (book love/independent reading) or “daily drafts” (some opening write either in response to an article/video/cartoon or something else.  Think Gallagher/Kittle).  Yes, this is “against” the district’s idea that you are “synchronous” the whole time.  This DOES align with all flex learning models.  You can schedule “work time” where you pull kids into class.  The class doesn’t know you’re calling in only the Ds and Fs.

2. Do it Right Now.  When you talk to a kid about missing work, ask them to complete it RIGHT NOW and exempt them from whatever else you’re doing (of course there will be some times you can’t do this) (you can use co-teacher or Lit Lab to help with this, too.)

3. You have the power!  Just providing them “more time” to get in work might not work.  You might need to exempt kids from formative work.  Think about ALL kids in F range as Jenn Jaczyk kids.Get the kids to do the KEY formative and the summative stuff.  You have permission to be flexible with due dates and EXMP grades (keep a deadline).  You have the power to allow to allow summative re-takes (until district decides later).  You have the permission to let formatives go (meaning, allow kids to get a poor grade or 50% or whatever) if they are doing well on summatives.

4.  Full Day check in.  It’s OK to take a whole day every couple weeks for “extension activity” so you can check in with struggling students.  Check in with all kids at the beginning, assign a TASK, then send them away to work while you KEEP all kids who are struggling.  Work with them as a group and/or 1:1 to help them manage the missing work.  Also… you can ask the Lit Lab to come in to be with the kids who are getting As, Bs, Cs.  YOU take the day to work with kids to manage their missing work.

5. Enforced Office hours.  The days before a summative, I send emails to parents and kids to meet with me during office hours.  If a kid misses a summative, I send the email and say “you must come on Tuesday at 1:30 to TAKE the test.”  Parents are cc-ed.

6. Lit Lab Wednesdays. Let Lit Lab take your successful kids.  You work the entire period with the D/F list.  (You can also send 1-3 kids to work with the Lit Lab teacher just to get summatives.  Even if the assignment is not COMPLETE, it’s at least started.  It’s OK if kids don’t get what’s in TODAY’s Class.)

7. Low Weight (like “0.1” weight) for assignments in TAC.  It’s a pain to keep up with the grading, but it helps show the trend of “not doing work” to parents/counselors.   Some teachers say that they are currently doing lots of this kind of thing, but are planning on reducing it as the semester goes on.

Helpful no-nonsense email from teacher to parent

 

Diego is failing Rhetoric, not due to lack of skill, but to lack of assignment completion. Below are all of his outstanding assignments. Diego is in the remote group, so I can’t help him in person, but I am willing to have a separate zoom conference with him to figure out what the deal is. Otherwise, he needs to set aside some time, like this afternoon when there are no classes, and get this work done. It would be a shame to have to repeat this course in summer school due to missing assignments. This is a graduation requirement. Let me know if you have any questions.

(followed by list of missing assignments)

Helpful Form Email from Teacher to Parents

 

Good morning,

So far this quarter, we have been working on the development of four skills in Civics.  In Infinite Campus, you will see 4 summative grades (one for each) skill recorded.  These scores make up your first quarter grade.  You will also see other grades entered.  These grades are practice for each skill, and do not count toward the quarter grade.  They are called formatives.  Per district policy, homework and practice do not count toward the final grade.

We will continue working on these skills in each unit moving forward in our upcoming units on The Executive Branch, The Legislative Branch, and The Judicial Branch.

All summative assessments can be made up, or re-taken, once your student has reflected on their effort and progress and requested a re-take with me.  Students have three weeks to make up or re-take these assessments from the date they were given.

Overall, students are doing very well, and we are looking forward to learning about the Presidency as we explore various aspects of the 2020 Presidential Election.

If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out via email:---  I am happy to talk with you about your student's progress.

Thanks, and have a great day!

Department Chair Job Descriptions

 Department Chair Job Description (new) (2019?)

Oversee the development and implementation of C&I in department.  DC must supervise and evaluate the delivery of instruction in compliance with Board Goals, Board timeline pursuant to the Curriculum Equity initiative, and district/building policies and procedures for advancing student performance.

Supervises and Evaluates the Performance of Certified and NC staff Members

Essential Duties:

1. Supervises classroom instruction at both campuses
2. Helps teachers understand the special needs or problems of individual students
3. Supports the professional development of staff members
4. Orients new teachers in the content area, working collaboratively with district and building staff
5. Plans, evaluates and oversees testing programs for assigned curricular area, including Common Final Exams
6. Assists department teachers in the handing of day-to-day issues related to instruction
7. Supports the introduction of instructional ideas and strategies to staff member
8. Enforces personnel policies
9. Follows district evaluation policies and procedures for assigned staff at both campuses
10. Investigates concerns regarding employees
11. Recommends for dismissal, tenure and job assignments
12. Recruits, screens, hires, trains, recommends for hiring and assigns candidates
13. Supervises and evaluates curriculum relates activities
14. Coordinates the assignment of student teachers and observers within designated area
15. Collaborates on a regular basis with district/building level curricular teams

Coordinates the Review, Revision and Implementation of Department Curriculum.  Coordinates articulation between sender districts and department.

Essential Duties:

1. Send school articulation
2. Analyzes student progress in the content areas
3. Analyzes student placement
4. Works with teachers to develop curriculum and assessments, e.g. learning targets, curriculum guides and end-of-course assessments
5. Supervises the implementation of curriculum and instructional programs
6. Facilitates the revision of the curriculum and course offerings
7. Supervises and coordinates the ordering and use and maintenance of departmental instructional materials
8. Assists in the planning of departmental professional development

Leads the Department

Essential Duties:

1. Implements board policies and procedures
2. Organizes and coordinates departmental meetings
3. Keeps informed about current trends and practices in the 

Provides Fiscal Management for the Department

Essential Duties:

Manages Departmental Organization

Essential Duties:

1. Assists the principal when needed in the overall administration of the school
2. Performs other duties as assigned by the principal or ASA
3. Manages requests for attendance and travel to professional meetings and conferences by assigned staff

Districtwide Curriculum Responsibilities

Essential Duties:

1. All courses at both schools have common fees, common textbooks, common resources, common anchor assessments, adn common final exams
2. grading and parameters are the same throughout course teams
3. curriculum guides include curriculum maps as well as standards, objectives, content, and skills that are to be covered in each course
4. lessons and teaching approaches are straegiecally varied so students' needs are met regarlds of their academic starting point
5. The Curriculum Equity goals and timeline esabtlished by the BOE are met
6. A curriculum equity work plan is created
7. Benchmark data as outlined in the curriculum equity timeline is reported
8. progress is reported to the BOE through the Academic office

Coronovirus and Aerosols

 "How does coronavirus spread?

9/20/2020 LA Times - Aerosol airborne spread (link)

8/25/2020 - Time -aerosols article from August in Time: link

7/20/2020 - NYT Covid aerosols article from Julylink 

A person infected with coronavirus — even one with no symptoms — may emit aerosols when they talk or breathe. Aerosols are infectious viral particles that can float or drift around in the air for up to three hours. Another person can breathe in these aerosols and become infected with the coronavirus. This is why everyone should cover their nose and mouth when they go out in public."

https://www.health.harvard.edu/diseases-and-conditions/covid-19-basics

https://www.health.harvard.edu/diseases-and-conditions/coronavirus-resource-center#:~:text=Aerosols%20are%20emitted%20by%20a,up%20to%20three%20hours.

Design Your Meeting Agenda Around Questions

 

Design Your Meeting Agenda Around Questions

A good agenda is the first step to any successful meeting. If you want to make the best use of everyone’s time, turn your bullet points into questions that drive to the outcomes you’re looking for. For example, instead of a general topic like “Budget Problems,” try a specific question like, “How will we reduce our spending by $100,000 by the end of the fiscal year”? Or replace an item like “Strategic Planning” with a challenge like, “What is the key market threat we need to be aware of, how could it affect us, and what can we do to anticipate?” Preparing these questions before the meeting will make it easier to determine who should be there and how much time you’ll really need. Ultimately, a questions-based approach to your agenda can bring focus, engagement, and better performance to your meetings. And if you can’t think of questions to ask, maybe you don’t need that meeting after all!

This tip is adapted from “How to Create the Perfect Meeting Agenda,” by Steven G. Rogelberg

Make Your Virtual Meetings More Interactive

 

Make Your Virtual Meetings More Interactive

(from HBR from an article by Andy Molinsky) While you may not all be in the same room, your virtual meeting can still be engaging and interactive. One big advantage is that a virtual setting can lower the bar for participation, so you have an opportunity to glean thoughts and insights from people who ordinarily might not speak up in person. You might use a polling function as a warm-up for discussion and an early opportunity to engage people. You can also encourage attendees to use the chat function, so they can comment in real time. Invite them to participate in the discussion, rather than just talking at them. For example, you might say: “Anita just wrote a great point — and it seems Juan had a similar thought. Do either of you want to go into a bit more detail?” If your chosen platform offers virtual break-out rooms, use them liberally. You might divide people into smaller groups to discuss ideas amongst themselves. You can join these rooms yourself if you wish, the same way you’d roam around the room during a live meeting. Finally, when you’re ready, you can bring everyone back to the larger group with a click of the mouse. You have the tools to recreate the vibrancy of an in-person meeting, so take advantage of them virtually.